Nine Kentucky hospitals were recognized this year by the American Hospital Association’s Health Forum for their use of technology to make it easier for patients and providers to interact and to help patients stay actively involved in their care.
The 19th Annual Health Care’s Most Wired Survey measures information technology use and adoption among hospitals nationwide, examining how organizations are leveraging IT to improve performance for value-based health care in their infrastructure; business and administrative management; quality and safety; and clinical integration.
Kentucky hospitals featured on the 2017 Most Wired list included Ephraim McDowell Health in Danville; Highlands Regional Medical Center in Prestonsburg; King's Daughters Health System and Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital in Ashland; Norton Healthcare in Louisville; St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead (in the “Small and Rural” survey category); and St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood.
University of Kentucky Healthcare and Louisville-based Baptist Health, both with hospitals in Lexington, were recognized in the survey’s Most Improved category this year for significant improvement from 2016 to 2017 in the survey’s focus areas. Baptist Health was also recognized in the survey’s Most Improved category in 2016.
According to the survey, which included an estimated 2,158 hospitals, or 39 percent of all hospitals in the United States, the country’s “Most Wired” facilities are using smart phones, telehealth and remote monitoring to create more ways for patients to access services and capture health information. This year’s results indicate that 76 percent offer secure messaging with clinicians on mobile devices, nearly half are using telehealth to provide behavioral health services to more patients, and 40 percent now offer virtual physician visits. In addition, more than 40 percent provide real-time care management services to patients at home for diabetes and congestive heart failure.
“The Most Wired hospitals are using every available technology option to create more ways
to reach their patients in order to provide access to care,” said AHA President and CEO
Rick Pollack in a release on the survey results. “They are transforming care delivery, investing in new delivery models in order to improve quality, provide access and control costs.”
Hospitals also indicated they have increased their use of sophisticated IT monitoring systems to detect patient privacy breaches, monitor for malicious activities or policy violations and produce real-time analysis of security alerts. Most Wired hospitals are also investing in analytics to support new delivery models and effective decision-making and training clinicians on how to use analytics to improve quality, provide access and control costs.
Working with Epic Systems, Baptist Health completed the rollout of its new electronic health records systems in January to its physician offices and hospitals. All Baptist Health hospitals, outpatient centers in Kentucky are now using Epic, plus all Baptist Health Medical Group offices.
“A majority of physicians unanimously chose the electronic health record we installed, and our launch team worked hard to make the transition a smooth one,” said Tricia Julian, chief information officer for Baptist Health. “We are committed to providing the best information technology environment possible to support our excellent patient care and we are honored to be recognized for our efforts.”